soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:42 pm

I just used a big box of soda through a HF spot blaster on an old Zenith carb. Mine did not turn out as well as pictures I’ve seen on the forum. I used nozzle that came with the blaster. Did I do something wrong? Should I use a smaller nozzle?

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:41 pm

I used the nozzle that came with my HF blaster [only came with one]....Maybe an air pressure issue?

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:44 pm

I used Mr Roy's at DSCF and it cleaned my carb up like new, inside and out. Could be an air pressure issue.

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:49 pm

Is 120 # enough or should I go higher?

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:51 pm

120 should be enough.

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 4:53 pm

120 is likely too high, you may be eroding some metal with the dry soda....40 -60 is likely more than enough to clean, even if it takes 2 or 3 passes....

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:07 pm

The HF unit has a max of 90#. I was using around 70#. I guess I expected better results with a steady movement. I wonder what would happen if the carb was put in a e-tank? The hardware is pretty rusty but moves freely.

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:03 pm

Reg, When Tim did his at DSCF, it came out looking brand new. Dusty gave me the one off Katrina that looked like it had be used in an oyster bed. Tim and John C blasted it. All of the crud was removed, but it remained a darker, tarnished gray color. I'm not sure if that was a result of the soaking, or the nature of the metal.

Bob

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:12 pm

I did mine with the HF standard nozzle and it cleaned well. I did feel that I was spraying too wide a pattern though. I had a piece of 1/4 inch OD tubing and inserted a short piece(1 inch or so) into the end of nozzle It was a snug fit and didn't come out when I used it. The opening was reduced to around 1/8 inch . I used about 80 to 90 lbs of air and it seemed to work much better with the smaller opening because of better control to direct the flow, and I used a lot less baking soda. By the way, my COSTCO has 13 pound bags of baking soda for $6.79.

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:27 pm

regwal wrote:The HF unit has a max of 90#. I was using around 70#. I guess I expected better results with a steady movement. I wonder what would happen if the carb was put in a e-tank? The hardware is pretty rusty but moves freely.

Do not put in the "E" TANK

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:20 pm

what about the hardware Mike? That should be ok wouldn't it?

Re: soda blast today

Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:27 pm

I recently cleaned three nasty carbs in Berryman's (Walmart 18 dollars) carbs came out looking brand spanking new , no exageration this Berrymans is Awesome stuff

Re: soda blast today

Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:18 am

I like the Berrymans, it works great like Jackman stated.

Re: soda blast today

Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:00 am

Just one thing, for some reason , some carbs do not come out looking as good as others be it blasted or soaked. Boss

Re: soda blast today

Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:34 am

Yep Boss, thinking I have one of those. I stepped the blaster nozzle size down, reduced pressure and went over again with same result. I plan to make a small e-tank from a 1/2 gallon bucket today and clean the choke and throttle plate parts. I hope when done I get this thing back together. I found a 1/2 page diagram of a Zenith searching through the manuals. Can anyone point me towards a larger one?